Due to the demand for lower calorie and anti-caries chewing gum products, considerable effort has been directed toward the development of sugarless chewing gums containing high intensity sweeteners and other non-sugar sweeteners. Along with these efforts, considerable work has been done to adjust the flavor and sweetness profiles of these sugarless chewing gums. This work has included the development of compatibilizing agents, enhancing agents, encapsulation techniques, blending techniques and other methods of optimizing flavor and sweetness.
Because of the trend towards sugarless gums, comparatively less effort has been devoted to improving and/or optimizing the sweetness of sugar-containing gums, defined herein as chewing gums whose sweetness depends in whole, or in part, on the presence of sugar. However, there are still many chewing gums in which the presence of sugar plays an important role in sweetening the gum. Many bubble gums and pellet gums, and some standard chewing gums, still contain sugar. Some consumers prefer the use of natural sugars over high intensity sweeteners, which are synthetic.
Because of its high solubility in water, sugar has a tendency to release very rapidly into the mouth during chewing of the sugar-containing gums. Therefore, gums whose sweetness depends primarily on sugar tend to lose their sweetness rapidly, i.e., during the first 7-10 minutes of chewing. This problem has been addressed in the prior art, to an extent, by adding high intensity sweeteners having delayed flavor release (for example, encapsulated or spray-dried high intensity sweeteners) to sugar-containing gums. However, little has been done to modify the release of the sugar, or to enhance the long-term sweetness contributed by the sugar.
In order to provide a pleasing, long-lasting sweetness to a sugar-containing gum, it is generally desirable to prolong the time period during which at least 15% of the original sweetness intensity is apparent to the consumer. In other words, the consumer initially detects a sweetness burst of a relatively high intensity when chewing is commenced. Thereafter, the detected sweetness intensity inevitably declines with time during chewing. When the detected sweetness intensity decreases by more than 85% from the original level, the gum may acquire a flat or bitter taste and is less pleasant to chew. Therefore, the enjoyable sweetness period can be prolonged by increasing the time during which at least 15% of the original sweetness intensity is apparent.